Browse Abstracts (84 total)

The city of Harlem has rats everywhere in houses, subways, restaurants, stores and business, and the citizens are fed up! One day, a steel pan man comes to the subway station and when he plays his music everyone is entranced, even the rats. He tells the mayor that he will fix the rat problem if the mayor pays him a million dollars. The mayor reluctantly agrees and the man keeps his promise. However, the mayor, does not keep his end of the bargain, so he is given what he deserves!

A young boy, Daniel, and his aunt Thelma take a trip to the market with money that he has earned. The boy is looking forward to visiting the candy shop but when they arrive they see a crowd and are faced with prejudice acts toward the owner of the store. Daniel and his aunt help comfort the owner and show true friendship.

Henry gets $5 every week for his allowance, but he spends it immediately on something that catches his eye. One day he sees Super Robot Dude, but his mother won't buy it for him and tells him he has to save his allowance. Whenever Henry is close to $30, something happens to make him lose his money again. One day, his grandma has a surprise for Henry, and he learns that working hard to save money will pay off in the end!

Bernardi lives with his grandfather, Babu, who is mute and makes toys. Because they do not make much money, Bernardi can not afford to go to school in his native Tanzanian town. Bernardi wants to go to school and play soccer with the other children. Through the unconditional love of Babu, Bernardi learns that sacrifice leads to achieving the impossible dream.

What would you buy if your mother gave you some money? Saruni wants a bicycle- a bicycle of his very own! Saruni saves his coins and works hard to help his mother. Unfortunately, Saruni is disappointed because he does not have enough to buy his very own bicycle. Where there is a will, there is a way, so Saruni finally gets a bicycle to help his mother to the Tanzanian market.

Jamela's mama has just bought some beautiful fabric for a new dress. While she's watching it dry outside in the South African air, Jamela wraps it around herself and starts parading down the street. Everyone is watching her, she is so proud. When she gets home, Jamela finds her mama very upset because her fabric is ruined. With the help of a friend, Jamela buys her mama more fabric. At this South African wedding, both Jamela and her mama are beautiful in their new dresses.

John Ripley shows courage and perseverence in Southern Ohio through his actions. John crosses the Ohio River into the slave state of Kentucky to help other African Americans escape to freedom. John listens to nature as he rows a slave family across the Ohio River to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

Sara stands up for justice on her city bus. Sara gets tired of sitting in the African American section of the bus. Sara does not undertsand why she does not have the same rights as the white Americans, so she takes a stand to change that law.

Roy is known around town as the best mechanic in Florida. Roy makes it his mission to create a car that will be accident proof. No one in the town believes him, but Roy proves them wrong time and time again. Roy's creativity and perseverance leads to the making of the best cars in the area.

The clubhouse is falling apart, but how will the kids get the money to fix it?They decide to sell lemonade to make money. Each of the kids is given a different job, including graphing the number of cups sold. Not only do the kids learn how to cooperate, they learn a little about graphing too.

Abdul and his grandfather travel the streets of Fez, Morocco on the way to work. After passing merchants, carpenters and other citizens hard at work, grandfather spreads out a carpet to begin his job, telling stories to a crowd.

Yoshi is a fan maker in the city of Yedo. His favorite food in the whole world is broiled eels. Every night, his neighbor Sabu goes off to catch eels, broils them on his hibachi, and waits for customers, but they never come. Yoshi thinks that Sabu should share the leftover eels with him, but he is too greedy to give Sabu any of his money. Yoshi continues to sit day after day smelling Sabu's eels, but never buying any of them. Finally, Sabu presents Yoshi with a bill for smelling his eels. Yoshi dances around the town shaking his money box and tells Sabu that he will charge his for listening to…

The Woods family is a poor, farming family who lives on top of a windy mountain. They have little food, clothes, or money, but they work hard on the farm. They all carry rocks in their pockets while farming to keep their skinny bodies from blowing away. They also use rocks to heat and keep them warm in the winter. The rocks become shiny and smooth and are sold for money.